Middle East Experience

Talks have resumed over the mega-dam that has caused tensions between Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: Talks resume on Ethiopia's Nile mega-dam

A senior advisor to the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi told reporters that flights between the UAE and Israel would pass through Saudi airspace..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: Dubai-Tel Aviv flights to fly through Saudi airspace: reports

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the key to communicating with other Middle East country is discretion.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Netanyahu: I have been talking to other Arab leaders apart from UAE

I survived the bombing in Baghdad that changed the UN forever. It needs to learn from its mistakes, says former UN diplomat Carolina Larriera..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: The United Nations is in danger of losing its sense of purpose | Carolina Larriera

This is not only a potential human disaster, it is an ecological disaster.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Hamas incendiary balloons are ecoterrorism

In a historic situation, Israel’s GDP dropped by 28.7% - the first time this has happened in 40 years.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: CBS report: Israel in a difficult, deep recession

Deal signed after Israel and UAE announced agreement leading to full normalisation of diplomatic relations..
Source: Albawaba
Full Article: UAE, Israeli firms sign agreement on coronavirus R&D

Of the nearly 4,000 people in Jerusalem with the virus, almost half are residents of east Jerusalem – with over 40% testing positive
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Coronavirus czar accuses Arabs of ‘attacking’ Israel by spreading virus

Thousands of partygoers packed out a water park over the weekend in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, where the coronavirus first emerged late last year, keen to party as the city edges back to normal life.Read the latest updates in our dedicated coronavirus section.The popular Wuhan Maya Beach Water Park was filled with people frolicking in swimsuits and goggles for an electronic music festival, many perched on rubber dinghies or wading up to their chest in water.The water park reopened in June after Wuhan gradually opened up after a 76-day lockdown and strict restrictions to try and control the spread of the virus.The park -- which local media says has capped attendance at 50 percent of normal capacity -- is offering half price discounts for female visitors.A performer in a stage show at the front of the water waved at the crowd, packed close and waving their arms back, some snapping photos on phones protected in plastic pouches round their necks.Another performer on a water jet board entertained his audience by hovering above them with sparks shooting from his back.Some of the crowd had donned life jackets, but none of the tightly-packed partygoers were seen to be wearing face masks as a DJ in bright yellow headphones played on stage.The first known cases of COVID-19 emerged in Wuhan late last year, a city of 11 million people, before the virus spread across the world, killing hundreds of thousands and crippling economies.The lockdown was lifted in April, and there have been no new domestically transmitted cases officially reported in Hubei province, where Wuhan is the capital, since mid-May.To try and boost the local economy, the Hubei government has been offering free entry to 400 tourist sites across the province.China has largely brought its domestic epidemic under control, but sporadic outbreaks and a summer of severe flooding have exacerbated the economic fallout.Read more:Hollywood off to slow restart during COVID-19 pandemicUAE extends grace period for residency violators, waives all finesPets ‘more likely’ to catch COVID-19 from humans than infect people
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Coronavirus: Partygoers crowd Wuhan water park as life goes back to normal

Israeli President Reuven Rivlin has invited Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan to Jerusalem, following last week’s historic agreement between Israel and the UAE.Rivlin expressed the invitation in a letter, written in Arabic, which was released to Israeli media on Monday.“I'm full of hope that this step will contribute to building and strengthening the mutual trust between us and the region's nations,” said Rivlin in the letter.Read more:UAE’s Jewish community reacts to country’s historic agreement with Israel“A trust that will solidify the understanding between all of us. A trust like this, as you have proven through your brave and great step, will push our region forward and provide prosperity and stability to all the residents of the whole Middle East,” he said.The UAE confirmed on Sunday that a phone link has been set up with Israel, unblocking phone calls between the countries, following a historic agreement between the two countries.UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Israeli Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi “inaugurated a phone link between the United Arab Emirates and the State of Israel following the historic Peace Accord,” said UAE Director of Strategic Communications at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Hend Al Otaiba in a post on Twitter on Sunday.On Thursday the UAE and Israel announced a peace deal to normalize relations between the countries, in exchange for the Israeli government halting its annexation of Palestinian land.Known as the “Abraham Accord,” the diplomatic agreement between the UAE and Israel is Israel’s first peace treaty with an Arab country in 25 years.Israeli and Emirati delegations will meet in the coming weeks to establish bilateral agreements on a range of issues including telecommunications, tourism, and healthcare.Read more:Eight moments that led up to the UAE’s agreement with Israel‘Great news for peace’: Former Israel, US officials react to historic UAE-Israel dealLebanon’s people are calling out the disease of corruption, but say cure out of reach
Source: Al Arabiya
Full Article: Israel’s president invites Abu Dhabi Crown Prince to Jerusalem following agreement